A week ago, most Americans had never heard of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Now, following a Vice Presidential acceptance speech viewed live by more than 40 million people, Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 37% hold an unfavorable view of the self-described hockey mom.

The figures include 40% with a Very Favorable opinion of Palin and 18% with a Very Unfavorable view. Before her acceptance speech, Palin was viewed favorably by 52%. A week ago, 67% had never heard of her.

The new data also shows significant increases in the number who say McCain made the right choice and the number who say Palin is ready to be President. Generally, John McCain's choice of Palin earns slightly better reviews than Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden.

Perhaps most stunning is the fact that Palin's favorable ratings are now a point higher than either man at the top of the Presidential tickets this year. As of Friday morning, Obama and McCain are each viewed favorably by 57% of voters. Biden is viewed favorably by 48%.

There is a strong partisan gap when it comes to perceptions of Palin. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Republicans give her favorable reviews along with 33% of Democrats and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major party.

She earns positive reviews from 65% of men and 52% of women. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that Obama continues to lead McCain among women voters while McCain leads among men. The Friday morning update??????the first to include interviews conducted after Palin's speech--showed the beginning of a Republican convention bounce that may match Obama's bounce from last week.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of Americans believe that most reporters are trying to hurt Palin's campaign, a fact that may enhance her own ratings.

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The Palin pick has also improved perceptions of John McCain. A week ago, just before he introduced his running mate, just 42% of Republicans had a Very Favorable opinion of their party's nominee. That figure jumped to 54% by this Friday morning. Among unaffiliated voters, favorable opinions of McCain have increased by eleven percentage points in a week from 54% before the Palin announcement to 65% today.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of all voters now believe that McCain made the right choice when he picked Palin to be his running mate while 32% disagree. By way of comparison, on the night after Biden gave his acceptance speech, 47% said that Obama made the right choice.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of Republicans say that McCain made the right choice while just 69% of Democrats said the same about Obama.

Among unaffiliated voters, 52% said that McCain made the right choice for his running mate and 45% said the same about Obama.

Forty percent (40%) now say that Palin is ready to be President, if necessary. That's up from 29% last week. Forty-nine percent (49%) say the same about Biden.

However, following the Wednesday night speech, voters are fairly evenly divided as to whether Palin or Obama has the better experience to be President. Forty-four percent (44%) of voters say Palin has the better experience while 48% say Obama has the edge. Among unaffiliated voters, 45% say Obama has better experience while 42% say Palin.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters say that Palin's speech helped McCain's chances of becoming President while only 10% believe it hurt those prospects.

While Palin's numbers are stunning today, it remains to be seen how the Alaska Governor's numbers will hold up through the next two months. She has made a tremendous first impression, but the country will get to know her a lot better between now and November.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of all voters now believe that McCain made the right choice when he picked Palin to be his running mate while 32% disagree. By way of comparison, on the night after Biden gave his acceptance speech, 47% said that Obama made the right choice.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of Republicans say that McCain made the right choice while just 69% of Democrats said the same about Obama.

Among unaffiliated voters, 52% said that McCain made the right choice for his running mate and 45% said the same about Obama.

Because these figures were of interest to me in this particular area, I culled them from the information you included, maggie. All of it pertained to the VP pick.

Let's start off by saying that I'm a staunch Democrat. In the last election, since I could not abide Kerry, I chose not to vote for either candidate for President, but did vote the rest of the ballot. That won't happen this time, since I literally threw my vote away then.

I can live with Obama, so far. But I still think Clinton was the better candidate for the VP position on the ticket. Now that Palin is faring so well in the polls, I am feeling even more strongly that Clinton would have been an excellent choice for the democrats' ticket. However, to Biden's credit, he's a credible and knowledgable candidate also, and an honorable man; but together the two of them just don't present an exciting duo. We vote the issues and not the person, necessarily. I know that. But there's something to getting excited about the people themselves too.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Palin is creating excitement. It may not last, especially when the serious issues begin to get discussed. On the other hand, she may do better than people thought, but also maybe not. The figures above do not surprise me at all right now. This election, as of this moment, I believe, is totally up for grabs. It will be interesting to see how some of these decisions play out in the next two months.

Last edited by Tee on Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:17 am; edited 1 time in total

Well, no doubt about it, we are a fickle country. We love Palin's glasses, her clothing, and that she resembles Tina Fey and the fact that she mentioned "her man" and is still with him after 20 years, Hopefully, a large part of this country can see beyond the canned speech and realize that our country needs a change. I certainly hope voters can see beyond all of this. And for the record....I think Hillary would have made a damn fine VP, but hey, I'm working with what I've gpt,

Really? Not sure how fickle applies since it's probably a completely different set of people polling for her.

Quote:

We love Palin's glasses, her clothing, and that she resembles Tina Fey

Well, if anyone thinks that's all there is to her appeal to the base McCain brought her in for, I suspect most are in for a hugh surprise along the way.

In fact, I'm rather fascinated by how much everyone - and when I say that I mean from media, right and left, to those in the Obama camp - seems to be fixated, at least at first if not still, on how she was selected only to bring in those "moderate, undecided females" or the "disinfranchised Hillary supporters" just because she's a woman.

Right.

Why is it that because McCain picked a woman everyone automatically assumed it was a) hastily decided, b) solely for the female vote and/or c) for those middle ground votes? Everything about her profile screams rock solid conservative base - everything McCain isn't seen as, at least not all the time. He's the one who can truly court the middle ground votes and always has been.

That the best choice for him happened to be a women was simply icing on the cake.

Newsflash - do you honestly believe that any woman would have energized the RNC this way even before her speech if they knew nothing about her? She was not unknown to the base even if the rest of the country was blinded by the media's filters. And I suspect a great many of them were secretly longing for her to be selected, too, but never, ever thought it would happen.

voters are fairly evenly divided as to whether Palin or Obama has the better experience to be President.

I'm Canadian, so excuse me for butting in here, but why this comparison? Obama is running for *President*, while Palin is the Vice-Presidential running mate, yes?

I think the reason is two fold. Obama is a young man running for president and has, according to the McCain camp, no real political experience. On the other hand, McCain is an old man (70's) and is therefore more likely to die in the next four years. That would make Palin, his vp choice, just that little bit closer to the presidency. So I think it is realistic to look at McCains VP choice and hold them against Obama in terms of experience.

If a voter is concerned about the experience of either the presidential candidate or the vice-presidential candidate, I think McCain did himself a disservice, especially at his age and considering he has had medical problems. He has, in effect, offered the opposition the opportunity to use against his campaign the very thing he is using against the opposition--the bugbear of inexperience. About the only difference between the tickets is that one is composed of Democrats and one is composed of Republicans and the long standing differences those parties have represented. And the most unreasonable part is that voters in the Democratic primaries didn't get a cut-and-dried chance to choose the candidate.

to maggieb: I was referring to the process the Democrats use to award delegates, which can thwart what the voters have decreed--for example, by caucuses and by apportioning delegates by percentage of the popular vote or by a combination of the two. I don't think caucus-goers are bound to vote for the candidate who won their district or precinct or whatever. A single person at a caucus could influence the number of delegates awarded, if he were eloquent or forceful enough. If I recall correctly, in Texas, for example, Clinton won the popular vote but received fewer delegates because delegates were decided by later caususes, not to mention Mich and Fla. The entire process is arcane, in my thinking.

In the Republican process, as far as I know, winner takes all.

Would the outcome have been different had the Democrats used that process? I don't know, but surely the last few weeks of the contest and the convention would have played out differently, and the ticket might be closer to what voters wanted.

Newsflash - do you honestly believe that any woman would have energized the RNC this way even before her speech if they knew nothing about her? She was not unknown to the base even if the rest of the country was blinded by the media's filters. And I suspect a great many of them were secretly longing for her to be selected, too, but never, ever thought it would happen.

The sleeping dog has been awakened. You have to give the guy credit. [/quote]

Well, I guess it is a newsflash, because that is a popular theory that he picked her just because she is a woman and undecided women may vote for her only for that reason. Stupid....I know.

Well, I guess it is a newsflash, because that is a popular theory that he picked her just because she is a woman and undecided women may vote for her only for that reason. Stupid....I know.

Popular, maybe, but that still doesn't mean it's the only interpretation or even the correct one. It simply doesn't fit the facts no matter how much anyone who might be for Obama might wish to spin it. The base knew and quite possibly loved her already. I've heard too many sighs of relief on all levels coming from the right since he named her to doubt that.

McCain was/is solidifying his base not purely reaching out. The extra y chromozone was a bonus, a potentionally huge one admittedly, but still only a bonus.

Anyone who has any doubts that McCain isn't a true leader who can make the tough choices to get the job done is out of touch with reality. And I say that whether he wins or loses._________________Bev(BB)
http://bevsbooks.com/notes/

I'm not saying he couldn't be a leader, but in my opinion, he is not the leader we need at this time. Not out of touch with reality....just an Obama fan.

And Obama is the same "leader" who couldn't seem to get through the DNC convention without caving into the Clintons or changing how the voting was going to be done? Or was that the other "leaders" messing things up?

I get confused.

Seriously, I heard and understand what you're saying but his actual actions certainly don't inspire a lot of confidence. Talk is truly cheap._________________Bev(BB)
http://bevsbooks.com/notes/

If a voter is concerned about the experience of either the presidential candidate or the vice-presidential candidate, I think McCain did himself a disservice, especially at his age and considering he has had medical problems. He has, in effect, offered the opposition the opportunity to use against his campaign the very thing he is using against the opposition--the bugbear of inexperience.

Has he really?

Let me turn it around for you. Do the Dems really want to keep bringing up how inexperienced their Presidential candidate is by comparing him to the other party's Vice Presidential candidate?

Hmm?

Palin might be going to be potentially one heart-beat away but Obama is only a vote away from it already.

So has McCain really done himself a disservice or is that yet again partisan spin and sexist to boot?